JOHN
CONNOLLY
DEANJOHNCONNOLLYZ
1
“IhavemyJCZsignature
prototypeoutwithme
again.I didn’tretireit butI did
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asit wasa USAcustomshop
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whateverythingwasmodelled
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shooter.I lovethose
Explorer/ZshapesbutI’ve
dozd|vsuhihuuhgwkhorqjhu/
Fender-style25.5-inchscaleohqjwk1Lwġvwrxjkwr Ľqgwkhp
pdgh#olnh#wkdw/#wkrxjk#
Mdfnvrq#pdnh#wkh#Nhoo|/#zklfk#
is a similar shape. Dean said
go ahead and put whatever
you want on it so naturally
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about eight years or so. It’s
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any major dings though it’s
been heavily used – it’s my
vwxglr#zrunkrxvh#wkdwġv#ehhq#
on every Sevendust and
Projected record since Black
Out The Sun. It’s in surprisingly
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Lġoo#suredeo|#euhdn#lw#qrz#Lġyh#
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didn’t have a guitar stand so
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it went right into a table.
I have other guitars that have
way worse battle scars.”DEAN THOROUGHBRED
2
“Dean made me
this custom shop
Thoroughbred and I’ve had it
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TheseareLesPaul-shaped
guitarwiththe24.75-inch
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ri wkhIhqghuvfdoh/
sometimesit’scooltohave
somethinga bitmore
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tightandcompact– andthis
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a bigguitarcollector.I’vegota
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LesPaulsanda 1991Explorer
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allmymoney!”DEANZ (BLACK/GOLD)
3
“Thisis actuallyan
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t hadbeena fair
whilesince
Sevendusthad
lastperformedon
UKsoil– seven
years,infact–
somethingthatthebandmembers
attributedtobadluckwhilstonthe
searchfornewmanagement.But,
thankfully,despitethebumpsin
theroad(and,inmorerecent
times,havinghadtocanceltour
dates),theAtlantaGeorgia
alt-metallersmetwithsomegood
lucktoo...
Theywouldeventuallysignup
withthecompanywhorepresent
AlterBridgeandMarkTremonti,inkinga newdealwithRiseRecords
fortheirtwelfthfull-lengthalbum
AllI SeeIs War, aswellaslandinga
higlyprestigiousGrammy
nominationontheirprioralbum
KillTheFlaw.
Meetingwiththebandattheend
of2018,it wascleartheywere
makingupforlosttime.Shortly
afterthesoundcheckonthe
secondnightoftheirReturnToThe
KingdomUKrun,TGzrxogĽqg
guitaristsJohnConnollyandClint
Loweryreminiscingoverthe
previousnight’scomebackand
eagertotakeusthroughthegear
theywereusingtomakea lasting
impression...1 2
SEVENDUST
Sevendust pair John Connolly and Clint Lowery talk TG
through the rigs on their Return To The Kingdom tour...
MARCH 2020 TOTAL GUITAR27
rig tour
Words Amit Sharma Photography Will Ireland